Know what insurance you are buying

HERE are some consumers who will not say no to any agent who tries to sell them any policy and that's suicidal.

HERE are some consumers who will not say no to any agent who tries to sell them any policy and that's suicidal.

A week ago Mampho Ngoako approached Consumer Line for advice. She wanted to consolidate her debts because she could not make ends meet.

Her take-home pay is R168 and when looking at her pay slip Consumer Line could not help but notice how over-insured Ngoako was.

She has five life covers as well as funeral covers with almost all the insurers you can think of.

Ngoako spends almost R4000 of her salary paying premiums and this has caused her life to deteriorate due to stress.

Ngoako did not want to cancel any of these unnecessary policies, but Consumer Line has persuaded her to do so since this would save her some money.

Sowetan spoke to Bongani Sithole of Liberty Life, who said it was important for consumers to know what they were buying from insurance companies.

There are two main types of funeral provisions on the market: a funeral package and funeral cover, he said.

Sithole said consumers must know the differences.

One of the important things to be aware of is that funeral packages are not standard - what you get out of them differs between various providers.

Funeral packages are usually sold by funeral parlours for the burial of a person, which includes storing the body, providing a casket, chairs, tent, flowers, food, and buses. It does not cover every expense associated with a funeral.